Women's Lax Upended by No. 10 Stony Brook, 16-6, On Senior Day

Apr 13, 2013

AMBER CASIANO

DURHAM, N.H. – Amber Casiano (South Windsor, Conn.) and Laura Puccia (Fairport, N.Y.) both scored two goals for the University of New Hampshire, but the Wildcats were defeated 16-6 by 10th-ranked Stony Brook University in Saturday afternoon's women's lacrosse game at Memorial Field.

UNH, which honored its five seniors – who played their final game at Memorial Field – following the game, is now 4-9 overall and 1-3 in America East. Stony Brook, which tallied the edge in shots (27-16), ground balls (15-10) and draw controls (14-8), extended its winning streak to seven games to improve to 12-2, 4-0.

In addition to Casiano and Puccia, Laura McHoul (Westwood, Mass.) recorded multiple points with a goal and an assist. Kathleen O'Keefe (Chatham, N.J.) was credited with eight saves, including six in the first half, as well as three ground balls and two caused turnovers – both of which were team highs.

Neither team scored in the opening six minutes of the game. O'Keefe stoned Emily Mercier in the opening minute, then denied Hillier at 28:47 to keep the Seawolves off the board. Caridi kept the game scoreless when she snared Puccia's shot at 28:07 and then she turned aside Casiano at 25:24.

Stony Brook scored five goals in less than four minutes to quickly turn a scoreless game into a 5-0 lead. Cook ignited the spurt on a free position from the top of the fan and shot into the upper-right corner of the cage at 23:58.

Nicole Grote (Ellicott City, Md.) won the ensuing draw and fired a shot that Caridi blocked aside to preserve the 1-0 lead at 22:47. SBU cleared the ball to the attack zone and Hillier, from the left wing, found Alyssa Cardillo cutting around the near post and she fired a high shot into the goal for a 2-0 lead at 22:21.

UNH once again gained control of the draw, but then an errant backward pass eluded O'Keefe and the ball bounced into the cage to give the Seawolves a 3-0 lead at 22:09.

Amber Kupres extended the advantage to 4-0 65 seconds later on a shot in traffic from the middle of the fan. O'Keefe made a save against Cardillo at 20:55 to keep the 'Cats within four goals, but the visitors retained possession and Rubino fired a free-position shot from the top of the fan into the upper-right corner to make it 5-0 at 20:14.

UNH called time out, but Stony Brook continued to steadily pull away to build a 10-0 lead at 12:55. From the right wing, Hillier found Cook at the top of the crease and she deposited a shot into the upper-left corner for a 6-0 advantage at 18:07. Rubino drove the left wing and scored on a high shot at 17:23, then Cook scored her third of the game on a free position from the top-left in which she leapt in the air before shooting under the crossbar for a 8-0 lead at 15:05. Emily Mercier scored a free-position goal at 13:22 and then finished a feed from Hillier for a goal and 10-0 cushion at 12:55.

Casiano trimmed the deficit to 10-1 at 11:11 when she was awarded a free position on the top-left of the fan and scored on a shot into the upper-right corner. O'Keefe denied Mercier on a free position at 10:16. At the other end of the field, Puccia, with her back to the net, backed in from the middle of the fan, turned and scored at 8:45 to lift the 'Cats within 10-2.

Faridi kept the Wildcats at bay with saves against Casiano at 8:01 and Grote at 6:50 and then Cook converted a free position into her fourth goal of the game when her bounce shot went over O'Keefe and under the crossbar at 6:12. Hillier found Jessica Romano in the middle of the fan for a man-up goal and 12-2 lead with 17 seconds remaining in the first half.

SBU took that 10-goal lead and 20-7 shot advantage into halftim.

The Seawolves extended the margin to 14-2 on goals by Rubino at 28:35 and Hillier at 20:52.

Kayleigh Hinkle (Glenelg, Md.), who tallied a team-high four draw controls, scored with a backhanded shot at 18:52 to trim the deficit to 14-3, but Rubino responded with a goal at 16:46.

McHoul caused a turnover in the attack zone and corralled the ground ball in the fan. She charged the net and fired a shot into the cage to make the score 15-4 at 8:30.

Cook pushed her nation-leading goal total to 65 with her fifth tally of the game at 5:38 as she gained possession of the jump ball on the right wing and raced to the middle of the fan.

Casiano one-timed McHoul's pass into the cage for a man-up goal at 4:11, then Puccia closed the scoring with five seconds on the clock when she caught the Molly Gaffey (North Hampton, N.H.) entry pass and ripped a shot into the goal.